Posts Tagged ‘hotel’

Why pay more for a musty room. A place where you are lulled to sleep by the sounds of the interstate, where you awaken to a special treat of fake OJ, stale cereal, powdered eggs, and stand in line to gain your bounty. You could rent a place on VRBO or a similar site and have a whole house instead of a road side trap. With listings like this

http://www.vrbo.com/420476 you can have a whole house, with cooking both cooking and laundry, a home-like feeling and complete privacy. Get 5 rooms instead of one, sleep 6 or more for the same price or less. This is a smart way to travel, frugal, comfortable and fun. Check out some reviews of local hotels on tripadvisor.com.

Before arriving on Kauai I found our first housing arrangement on Craigslist. It was a simple process. I posted an ad of what I was looking for, people responded. I googled their names and their locations. Made contacts, saw pictures and made a decision. The day I arrived here my accommodations were ready at Aloha Estates at Kalaheo Plantation. We rented from James Hargraves, stained glass artist, inn keeper, and ukulele player. The dwelling is a 1920’s plantation house, architecturally charming, and seemingly well planned to take advantage of the local trade winds. Our room was pitched to us as a studio but in reality is more of a room with a kitchenette in a closet, with a full bath, plenty of hot water, and no kitchen sink. Requiring washing dishes in the bathroom and cooking with a rice cooker and hot plate. We shared a small screen lanai with our neighbors, that had a small glass top table and chairs.

We spent most of our time out and about so the size of our rental was not a great factor for the 2 months we’ve been here. When I made the rental agreement, I fully expected to stay here for 6 months, but I did make a month to month stipulation with the landlord in case either of us were not completely satisfied with the arrangement. During our time here we did all of our living in the king sized bed, it was dining room, home theater and recreation area.

Home Sweet Home

Now it’s time to move on. James was a wonderful host, our neighbors were quiet and friendly. We were comfortable enough and the price was great. We love the location. I think Kalaheo is the best place to stay on the entire island, less rain than the north and east, close safe beaches , close golf, and midway between the resorts of the north shore and the canyons of Waimea. Close to the art in Hanapepe, snorkeling, fancy golf and coastal hiking in Poipu, and the quaint charms of Koloa. Oh and I forgot to mention tsunami safe. James has rooms and apartments of many sizes available. I highly recommend this place for frugal travel. Please check out this trip advisor link for my review: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g60615-d324056-Reviews-Aloha_Estates_at_Kalaheo_Plantation-Kalaheo_Kauai_Hawaii.html

The Plantation House at Aloha Estates

If anyone has further questions don’t hesitate to contact me.

More pictures of the yard, fruit and flowers can be found throughout my blog.